The production team of Ocean’s 12 didn’t have to look too hard for an Italian villa to shoot in, since star George Clooney happened to own an 18th-century property in Laglio, Lake Como.

Many Italians believe this is really where the next pope is chosen. Now owned by a Russian billionaire, it’s reportedly on the market for €75 million ($NZ130 million). I gazed across Sophia Loren’s villa and the late Gianni Versace’s property, Villa Fontanelle. Not only did it feature in Bond’s Casino Royale but it hosted Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Casino Royale was also filmed in front of Villa La Gaeta, in San Siro, where the final scene shows James Bond shooting Mr White. The Baroque villa, built for an 18th-century cardinal, is surrounded by terraced gardens, where lake views are framed by columns and balustrades. I passed by numerous belle epoque pleasure pads including the 18th-century Villa del Balbianello, in Lenno. No wonder Hollywood fawns over Como as a natural movie set. PHOTO: SUPPLIEDEven the waters of this fiord-like lake seem extra glossy in this most glamorous of destinations. The grand hotels, luxuriant gardens and sparkling waters became a staging post for 18th-century grand tourists, a favourite retreat for European nobility and a destination that still exudes serious cachet. And they have never fallen out of fashion. They were the first to see the potential of the Italian Lakes as a holiday playground, lustily constructing their palatial villas on the edge of the likes of Lake Como. Those canny Romans sure knew when they were on to a good thing in Como. You can see its Roman origins in the orderly grid of streets of its historic heart and the remains of the Roman gate, Porta Pretoria. Como is just 48km north of Milan and it always astounds me how its leafy lakeside and stone-paved streets seem a world away. Situated on the lake’s southern shore, the stylish town of Como comprises a walled old quarter with intimate slender lanes lined with boutiques and swanky alfresco eateries. But for all its big-screen fame, the place embodies low-key glamour, writes Mike Yardley.

PHOTO: SUPPLIEDStar-powered Lake Como claims the top bragging rights for wooing the glittery celebrity set.

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